Growth and Learning

For possibly a very long time. I had this thinking. At the end of the day its about talent. Talent depends on genes. I got into this thinking because of education system, entrance exam like JEE and seeing around me that if parents are from IIT. Their kids also manage to get into IIT’s. Kids of doctors become doctor. And, it all basically flows in the genes. Intelligence.

To certain extent of course it does give an edge. In one of the interviews by Rahul Dravid. He mentioned a cricketer can become good by sheer practice, luck. Talent is what gives them edge over others. And, separates from players who could never make it to the top.

Talent is also something that is not much in your control. What is within control is to keep learning. Only way to learn is consistent deliberate practice.

Have been trying to learn a couple of new skills. Below listed are the current ones:

1. Professional Skills - data structures and algorithms, competitive programming, Golang. To improve problem solving. A bunch of new things at work.
2. Fitness - Yoga, Swimming
3. Adventure Sport - White Water Kayaking.

It has been sometime since I am practicing yoga. One of the observation has been. It takes a long time to reach a level where you unlock a difficult asana. Eg. Headstand. And, once it starts happening. You need to move on. Moving on is the hard part. Moving on, leads to growth. Easier said then done. As, there is often some kind of attachment towards the thing that you learned the hard way.

Same happened with swimming. You can’t get too comfortable with doing the same thing. For a very long time doing a somersault was the goal. Finally, when somersault got unlocked in 5ft pool. Coach, asked me to do new drills. So, that we could move on to flip turns.

White water kayaking is by far the most challenging skill I am attempting to learn. Way beyond my league.
Each step is challenging. Not just physically, mentally too. Being right in the middle of river. River is not your regular environment. There is discomfort when you are upside down underwater. It’s an experience unlike swimming pool. Every time you need to brave the mind. That I shall come out fine.

Finding each one to be quite challenging. Several times I question why am I even doing all this. And, then you persist every day. This is written to remind myself. Journey is for sure tough. Stay put. 😊

Growth lies when there is discomfort. 🐢